131-117 Constructing National Identities: South Africa, Canada and Australia in A Postcolonial Age

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This subject continues (from 131-116, above) the comparative analysis of race relations and ethnic conflicts in these three White settler societies into the 20th Century. It starts with the ideas of citizenship in these newly-united countries at the start of the 20th Century - how these included or excluded people on grounds of race or gender. It analyses state policies used to contain or repress indigenous peoples - segregation from white citizens (including full-scale apartheid in South Africa); attempts at assimilation with white society - and the various forms of resistance to these policies attempted by indigenous peoples in the three societies. The course concludes with an examination of some of the recent successes in this area - the landmark land-rights legal decisions in Canada and Australia, and South Africa's first full and free democratic election in 1994, which signalled the end of apartheid. Students taking this course should learn to: understand the changing position of indigenous peoples in these 20th Century settler societies; grasp the British Commonwealth context; understand the racial, ethnic, gendered and class components of post-colonial rule in these three societies; and develop skills in comparative history.

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